Celebrating Heritage Rhododendrons at Joseph Chamberlain’s Highbury

Study day focusing on Joseph Chamberlain’s rhododendron collection at Highbury (planted between 1879 and 1914)

10am – 4pm at Highbury

Morning: series of lectures

Lunch provided

Afternoon: tour of the gardens

Cost: £55

Join us and learn about the amazing
rhododendrons at Highbury. In 2018, the Chamberlain Highbury Trust commissioned
a survey of the rhododendron collection at Highbury. Lear Associates identified and mapped over
one hundred specimens and made recommendations for the future care of the
collection. On the 17th May 2019, Michael and Beverley Lear will describe their
findings and give a general introduction to rhododendrons.

Phillada Ballard (trustee of the Chamberlain
Highbury Trust) will also speak about rhododendron planting in Birmingham
gardens from the late 18th century to the 1970s. Beverley Lear will speak on a
garden that predates Highbury – Biddulph Grange in N. Staffordshire, with its
spectacular plantings of rhododendrons by James Bateman in the 1850s.

A tour of gardens will be led by Michael and
Beverley Lear who will concentrate on the six areas with extant rhododendrons.The cost of the one day event is £55 and
includes tea/coffee and a sandwich lunch.